Ouranalathra
While the lands of the Easting Reach have for the moment been spared the wild speculations of the notorious Volo, there is never a shortage of ill-informed “bluntquills” who seek to lay bare the mysteries of the Realms, better left unrevealed. Such a one is Varloriath Nardrimm of Tsurlagol, or “Varlo” to his acquaintances, whose haphazard regard for the tenets of scholarship and learning has garnered him the disdain of many a sage and loremaster in the lands of the East. Nevertheless, the recent pryings of Varlo have uncovered long-hidden lore regarding the legendary Ouranalathra, the great mist dragon of the Sea of Fallen Stars, and it is this information that is presented below. Ouranalathra was first noted in the annals of the Realms during the aptly named Year of the Mist Dragon (231 DR) when she spent the better part of three seasons challenging and destroying many dragons lairing in and around the lands of the Inner Sea. During this time she is known to have slain the red dragon Klithalrundrar “the Flamemaw”, the green wyrm Theslacramillos, in his demesne on a verdant, isolated isle off Altumbel, and the copper dragon Dizmallorthan “Shimmerwing” who laired in the Dragonjaw Mountains. In doing so, Ouranalathra exhibited powerful magic, including the ability to summon denizens of the Elemental Plane of Air and spells particularly suited to combating aerial opponents. Her dragon slayings meant that she swiftly amassed a huge hoard, which she removed to her own hidden lair deep within the Earthfast Mountains. What few sages know is that Ouranalathra’s mastery of the Art dates to the time when she served as a steed to the archmage Malanthus Stormstaern, who was the Magister from 154 DR to his death in 177 DR. The Magister Malanthus encountered Ouranalathra in the Year of the Bloodties (170 DR) when challenged by the evil wizard Osbarnus of Arrabar. Osbarnus had spell-charmed a number of creatures including Ouranalathra and sent them in force to assail the Magister so as to weaken him prior to Osbarnus challenging him for his office. When Malanthus shattered these bindings with powerful magic of his own, Ouranalathra offered herself to him as a steed so as to hunt down and slay her erstwhile captor. Over the next handful of years, Ouranalathra served Malanthus faithfully, even after they had slain the haughty Osbarnus in a mountain-toppling battle high above the Orsraun Mountains. In turn, the Magister worked mighty spells upon his companion dragon, augmenting Ouranalathra’s size, protections and spellcraft. When Malanthus perished in 177 DR, Ouranalathra made his former safehold, mountain-top tower, deep within the Earthfast Mountains, her new abode. At that time, the orcs of Vastar held sway in the region and civilised, human settlement north of the Easting Coast (the lands stretching between the present-day cities of Procampur and Hlammach) was practically non-existent. Ouranalathra dwelt there in isolation for the next several decades, honing her skill in the Art and carefully exploring the greater Realms by means of a series of portals that the dead Malanthus had created. When she felt her magic was strong enough, Ouranalathra left her lair to take to the skies, seeking a mate purely out of instinct and also curious to meet with a dragon of her own kind. Within a season, she espied from afar the mist dragon Shalamalauth, who had his lair in the coastline cliffs on Starmantle Bay, north of the Gulthmere Forest. After courting him and gaining his trust they became mates and Ouranalathra swiftly found herself the mother of a large brood of hatchlings. Tragedy struck the pair in 231 DR when Shalamalauth was slain by an unknown wyrm near the present-day Pirate Isles. This event set off Ouranalathra’s dragon hunt of that year as she unsuccessfully sought her mate’s slayer and received the sobriquet “the Mistmaiden” from observers and sages alike. Following that terrible time of battle and slaughter, Ouranalathra disappeared from the skies of the Inner Sea and retired to her tower abode, intent upon raising her brood of wyrmlings. Alone but for the company of her progeny, Ouranalathra spent most of her time poring over the extensive library Malanthus had collected during the years both before and after he became the Magister (some of which is rumoured to have been stolen from Candlekeep itself, ere its mighty, present-day defences against such thievery had been put into place). As well as books on magery and spellcraft, Malanthus had an interest in history and the arts and had created a series of magical lecterns, which automatically turned book pages, ‘remembered’ where an individual had left off reading a particular book and had large, glass-like, oval lenses attached to them, which provided the continuous benefits of comprehend languages and true seeing spells. In this way, Ouranalathra devoured a torrent of knowledge, which awakened within her a thirst for more. Her collection of unread books dwindling daily, the Mistmaiden sought more knowledge and learning and through her spells, established magical contact with sages and other masters of learning around the Sea of Fallen Stars, including such luminaries as Arlith Karn, the Loremaster of Chancelgaunt, Mountar Graelyn, the hermit sage of Wystvale (a now-vanished village west of present-day Telpir) and Halthetes “the Highsage” of Cimbar. Over time, Ouranalathra came into contact with the High Scrivener Eldrus Laelinth, then leader of the first great temple to Deneir in the Inner Sea lands, located near present-day Teziir. The Tometowers, as this temple complex came to be known, was built on a bluff overlooking present-day Teziir’s harbor and as the years passed, more and more worshippers made the journey to Tometowers and stayed there to live and work. In time, a small settlement was born near the temple and was named Teziir after a local beauty who married its first lord. Eldrus and Ouranalathra built a friendship based upon their love of learning and desire to safeguard the knowledge of the ages. In the Year of the Dusty Library (469 DR) however, Tometowers and fledgling Teziir were assailed by the armies of Myntharan the Magus King of Westgate as he sought to expand the holdings of Mynth, his self-styled realm. The approach of Myntharan’s armies threatened the safety of the collected knowledge contained at Tometowers, for he was known to have sacked the shrine of Deneir in Westgate when he came to power, keeping for himself what lore he deemed useful and destroying the rest so that no other individual could glean any benefit from it. Guided by visions from Deneir himself, Eldrus called upon the Mistmaiden to help move the library of Tometowers to her abode in the Earthfasts for safekeeping. This task was accomplished over the course of several weeks with the raising of a temporary portal and happened none too soon. The forces of the Magus King burned Tometowers and the surrounding settlement a scant tenday after the temple was emptied of its collection of books and scrolls, and many priests and monks were put to the sword in attempting to defend the temple grounds. After the fall of Tometowers, countless Deneirrath sought and obtained permission from Ouranalathra to make the pilgrimage to the Earthfast Mountains to study the valuable books and tomes of lore stored within her lair. In those times, before humans and dwarves had conquered the ever-present threat of the orcs, this journey was fraught with danger and so Ouranalathra took it upon herself to safeguard and protect these devout travellers, shadowing them from the skies and slaying any monsters that came near. One of the first of these pilgrims, Jaloth Thornsarr, gave the name Iron Dragon Mountain to the peak upon which Ouranalathra’s tower abode sat, after he crested the final rise leading to his destination and espied the grey mist dragon, still as a statue, perched atop it, gazing at him intently. To him, she seemed like a dragon statue made of cold, grey iron and his account of their first meeting was widely dispersed throughout the faithful to encourage them to follow in his footsteps. As the winters passed, the dragon protector of “Laelinth’s Library” as this trove of lore was originally known to the faith of Deneir, gave up her home to the many pilgrims and priests who stayed on, ordering and maintaining the library and establishing a house of worship to the Lord of All Glyphs which is now the Master’s Library, greatest temple to Deneir in the Realms. She did so with a glad heart, tasking her now full-grown offspring with the temple’s protection, and taking to the skies seeking adventure and excitement. Ouranalathra's Lair Though she has several caverns in the Earthfast and Sunrise Mountains (caves that have their own pools of water but which she keeps otherwise bare), the Mistmaiden's lair is a nameless ruined tower that lies on the northern shore of Almorel, the Lake of Mists. She has sealed all the surface entrances to the chambers and extensive passageways beneath the tower and the only entrance is through an underground river that flows off the Lake of Mists to a large, deep pool in the biggest chamber of her lair. The surface portions of the ruined tower are home to a vast number of slime and ooze-type creatures, which thrive in the humid, constantly damp environment of the shores of Almorel. As such, the area is usually given a wide berth by all travellers. Ouranalathra has made this underground complex her home only recently, discovering it by chance in the Year of the Catacombs (1308 DR). Whilst no adventuring bands have ever penetrated her lair, Ouranalathra and her presence in the lands east of the Sunrise Mountains are suspected to have come to the attention of at least three Red Wizards of Thay, although none of them have acted upon this knowledge. The Simbul, Mage-Queen of Aglarond, also knows of Ouranalathra’s close proximity to Thay and has long-considered manipulating or influencing the Mistmaiden into subtle confrontation with that land of evil mages for her own ends. The Simbul has told Elminster that Ouranalathra has amassed a sizable hoard of gems and magic, but her treasure holding does not measure up to the legendary hoard obtained from her year of dragon-slaying when his grandsire’s realm of Athalantar was still young. Elminster believes that she divided much of her hoard among her offspring before leaving Iron Dragon Mountain, binding them to service with the clergy there and neatly negating the treasure-lust of all young dragons. In this way, she avoided her children leaving the Master’s Library undefended whilst they roamed lands far afield in search of treasure to amass a hoard of their own. Her lair is known to have at least a half-dozen dragon-sized portals to places close to major centres of worship to the Lord of All Glyphs, including the Spirit Soaring in the Snowflake Mountains. Ouranalathra’s relationship with Cadderly, Chosen of Deneir, is currently in its infancy, she having met him and conversed with him only a few times in the last handful of years. Some observers postulate that the Mistmaiden may be envious of Cadderly’s special status with the Lord of All Glyphs, while others dismiss such idle talk, noting that their areas of interest and spheres of influence are governed more by their geographic location than any perceived rivalry. The most interesting feature of Ouranalathra’s lair is that it appears to be a remnant of the ancient land of Raumathar, perhaps a military outpost or wizard’s residence. Early on, the Mistmaiden discovered several small, secret antechambers containing riches and strange magic, not seen in the lands of Faerûn for over a millennium. Her chief discovery was a bipedal automaton made of some unknown alloy that proved to be stronger than adamantine. Inscribed with three large, intricate runes, it demonstrated a broad range of very diverse immunities and spell-like abilities. After having the automaton described to him by the Simbul, Elminster postulates that the automaton is one of a group of such constructs created by a cabal of Raumathari wizards who stumbled upon a cache of Imaskari magic. Mentioned in one of the Old Mage’s tomes of lore, the wizards’ names are not noted, but they are said to have toiled over many years to create several such automatons, which they called “banedrinkers”. These constructs were said to absorb the power of lower planar beings they slew and were created to combat the fiend armies of their great enemy, Narfell. The one now controlled by the Mistmaiden may be the last surviving specimen in the Realms, for they were very rare even in those distant times. Ouranalathra's Domain From her underground lair, Ouranalathra roams the eastern edge of the Sunrise Mountains as far south as the Mountains of Copper and as far north as Winterkeep. To the east, the Mistmaiden has flown as far as fabled Kara-Tur but considers the area up to the Quoya Desert as her hunting ground. She seems to like cooler climes and avoids deserts and the hotter southern lands. She flies over the Inner Sea lands on a regular basis and has two or three uncharted, island outcrops in the Sea of Fallen Stars that she uses to sleep and rest, covering them and herself with an impenetrable mist. The Mistmaiden regards the lands around the Lake of Mists to the foothills of the Sunrise Mountains as her exclusive territory. Peaceful travellers, merchant caravans and other harmless folk are allowed passage, but armed groups and other evil creatures are always watched and in the case of orcs and bandits, usually destroyed. The rest of the area she flies over she rules lightly by watching events more than enforcing her will. The Deeds of Ouranalathra The Mistmaiden keeps a low profile in the lands of the East and the Inner Sea, content in her role as the hidden protector of the clergy of Deneir and in her constant accumulation of learning, knowledge and lore. After leaving Iron Dragon Mountain, the Mistmaiden wandered the lands around the Sea of Fallen Stars, seeking to expand her knowledge and experience of humankind. In this regard, she resolved to adopt human shape and live a human “life”, doing so on at least a handful of occasions. She favoured the persona of a sage for hire or loremaster and lived in places such as Impiltur, Cormyr, Sembia and the Dalelands. She is believed to have served in the role of Undersage to the Royal Court of Impiltur in the reign of King Bellodar III of Impiltur, from 648 DR to the end of his reign in 673 DR. Similarly, she later assumed the guise of Astramas Revendimar, and was appointed the first of three Court Sages of Cormyr in the reign of King Baerovus, serving under the first Sage Most Learned of the Royal Court, Felindar Crownsilver. She served in this fashion until her ‘death’ in 1189 DR during the reign of King Pryntaler. Elminster believes that Ouranalathra met and befriended the Mage Royal Jorunhast of Cormyr before assuming the guise of Astramas and subsequently ‘looked in’ on the kingdom after his banishment, forging ties with The Silent Room, temple to Deneir in Suzail and its then leader, Loremaster Beldrath Opalnarr. Since her last human “life” (as a sage-for-hire in Ordulin from circa 1332 DR to 1354 DR), Ouranalathra has devoted much of her time to a single area of study and instruction: elven High Magic. Fascinated by the different and communal nature of this form of spellcasting, and intrigued by the secrecy and hidden details surrounding it, the Mistmaiden has made earnest attempts to unlock the secrets of High Magic for non-elven spellcasters. To date, her efforts have met with abject failure, but the recent revelations regarding the genesis of the Rage of Dragons, a phenomenon that has plagued dragon-kind for millennia, and its link to High Magic have met with a redoubling of her efforts. Both Laeral and Alustriel believe that she will make little if any progress in her ongoing researches but also note that should she and her magical strivings come to the personal attention of Mystra that all this may change in an eye blink. A dragon wielding High Magic is a sobering and sombre thought, and something to keep very close attention to as the years roll on, Elminster has commented dryly. Whilst her magical researches continue apace, the Mistmaiden’s other role as self-proclaimed protector of the faith of Deneir has dominated her activities throughout the lands about the Sea of Fallen Stars over many years. Rarely showing herself, and cloaked in a magical, shroud of mist that does not reveal her true form, Ouranalathra is known to have defended a caravan belonging to the Three Green Falcons trading coster out of Proskur from the attacks of Zhentarim-sponsored brigands south of Sunset Vale in 1359 DR. In doing so she safeguarded a trove of lore en route to Berdusk and then Candlekeep, where it resides now in safety. Other activities attributed to the Mistmaiden include her saving of the dwarven warrior Khanor of the Blueshield Brotherhood and his companion Peldraun, priest of Deneir, high up in the Dragonjaw Mountains. Assailed by orcs, Khanor tells of seeing a large cloud of mist travel purposefully down a deep valley, emitting forked lightning and rays of burning sunshine, decimating the tuskers intent upon slaying them. Similarly, in his book titled “A Bloody Life Remembered: Thoughts With My Sword In Its Scabbard”, the mercenary sea captain Ordrath of Sarshel mentions a great cloud of mist that enveloped the vessel of the pirate captain Glothan “Goldkeel” Thalabard as he threatened their merchant caravel heading toward the port of Selgaunt in 1365 DR. Chased down by Glothan west of the Wayrock, Ordrath gazed on in trepidation as the mist soared over his ship to envelop the pirate vessel. The cloud then seemed to glow for the space of three or four heartbeats before slowly dissipating, leaving nothing behind and no trace of Glothan, his crew of cutthroats or their ship. Ordrath notes as an aside how a group of passengers on his ship, high-ranking clergy to the Lord of All Glyphs, gave prayers in thanks immediately following this event and told him later in private that “the Mistmaiden watches over us always”. Of late, Ouranalathra has heard of another mist dragon, which shares her passion for sagely learning and the accumulation of lore. Thalagyrt, the mist dragon of the North, is but a name to her, but her curiosity to meet him grows year by year and in her hidden and most secret heart of hearts the Mistmaiden entertains the possibility of finding a kindred spirit to share her life and passions with. These thoughts have been prompted by her increasing age and fears of infirmity and weakness as the centuries roll on. She has certainly lost much of the whimsical and carefree nature she exhibited in her youth and is now a more serious, brooding individual, prone to periods of deep introspection. Ouranalathra continues to improve her mastery of magic but sees the Art as a dry, scholarly vocation to be analysed, measured and mastered by reason, deduction and hard work. In this vein, the Mistmaiden rarely creates new magic spells of her own but is talented at twisting or shaping existing dweomers into new forms. Her grasp of metamagic is flawless and her thought processes regarding spell selection and spell tactics are unmatched by any save the mightiest wizards and the Chosen of Mystra. Ouranalathra however lacks that spark of excitement and boundless creativity that marks those who truly embrace the Art and the service of Mystra. It is likely that her dry, scholarly nature – developed over the years in her service to Deneir – has denied her the tools by which she can truly come to love the Art and hence use it to achieve her goals. As the Simbul has commented, “Her eyes never shine when she grasps and shapes the Weave, standing but a finger tip away from the glory of Mystra.” Ouranalathra's Fate The Mistmaiden may yet unlock the secrets of elven High Magic, which would enable her to extend her lifespan beyond that of normal dragons. She retains good vitality and health for the moment but it is interesting to note that she has recently requested the assistance of the aged High Scrivener Melendilar Huantilar of the temple to Deneir in Selgaunt. Ouranalathra has asked that he and his clergy research and provide her with lore regarding preventative healing measures, both magical and mundane, designed to keep a creature fit and healthy and delay the ravages of time and aging. Like all creatures, Ouranalathra fears death and true to her beliefs, feels that if death can be delayed or avoided, the means to do so will be found in the wisdom of the ages past. For their part, the Deneirrath acknowledge and recognise the debts they owe the Mistmaiden and will do all in their power to see her live on in her role as protector of the faith. Of enemies, Ouranalathra has thankfully few, but knowledge of her activities is spreading throughout the Inner Sea lands and the accompanying rumors of her vast hoard, supposedly amassed over the many centuries, may yet make her a target for ambitious adventurers. The Simbul has discovered of late that the Red Wizard Ghalaster of Tyratauros has been secretly scrying on temples to the Lord of All Glyphs in nearby lands. He is known to command spells that attempt to control dragons and the Simbul fears he may use Ouranalathra to access and plunder the lore holdings of the Church of Deneir. Events, as they say, are getting very interesting east of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Category:Mist dragons